Courting The Impossible
by September Wolves
Summary: [M/M] Jeremy Brooks, former navy seal, gets mouth-raped and has an alien baby. The thing is, he's alive and the alien seems very possessive of its 'mommy'. Meanwhile, their small town in Colorado is being turned into an alien hunting ground and a certain predator has taken an interest in Jeremy. SLASH M/M
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I've wanted to write a M/M fic for AVP for a long time now. Very long. and now here it is. As for my other fics, I will finish as many as I can. Please be patient. My college days are almost here and I have a summer of free time if I can ace the next test, so please wish me luck! **

**Summary: Jeremy Brooks, ex-navy seal, gets mouth-raped and has an alien baby. Sad thing is he's alive and the alien seems very possessive of its 'mommy'. Meanwhile, their small town in Colorado is being turned into an alien hunting ground and a certain predator has taken an interest in Jeremy. This only happens in America. LOL  
**

**WARNING: M/M slash, interspecies relationships and maybe gore. (I'm so proud.)**

**RATING: T (this chap)**

* * *

**ONE**

Jeremy Brooks woke in a bathtub filled with ice. Pain lanced through him like a hot knife through butter. A single horrifying realization struck him and he just knew his kidneys had been stolen. They had torn out his organs and he would die horribly of some gruesome disease like uremia. With that woeful thought firmly planted in his head, he tried to pull his body into a sitting position. He'd served in the Navy for four years until his damn accident but he still had his pride and would rather die sitting up than lying helplessly in the cold ice.

Remy's chest felt like it was splitting open and he screamed against the pain. There was an eternal moment when he thought he was going to fall back in to the dirty blood stained bathtub, but then gravity took him into her arms face down. He flopped over the edge and met the cold tiled floor. The pain almost took him again. His chest smarted and burned in protest against his actions and black spots danced in his vision. Remy sat up slowly, his fingers slipping on the edge of the tub in his haste to sit up and assess his surroundings.

There was the faint sound of car traffic somewhere to his right and the wind blew in from the east, bringing flakes of cold snow. As if the snow had suddenly reminded his body of its current environment, he started to shiver. It felt like well over an hour before he found the strength to move another inch. There was an old snow suit over his naked chest. He could feel the scratchy material irritating his skin and Remy slowly unbuttoned the coat. His breath hissed out in a low curse.

"Damn."

There was an almost seven inch wound in his chest. It was roughly cut but the stitches were neat and spaced evenly. The skin around the wound seemed swollen and puffy. A clear yellow liquid had oozed out and crusted around the wound. He picked at it and nearly blacked out again. Slowly but determined, he reached out an arm and touched the space behind his back where his kidneys would be and felt relief wash over him. The skin there was unblemished. But what if they had planted something in his chest, like a bomb or something? Groaning several curses, he zipped the snow suit up to the nape of his neck and tried to stand. It took four tries before he was on his feet, holding onto the wall for support.

He was in an unfinished building somewhere in the city. It took roughly over an hour for him to get down two flights of dusty stairs and into the unfinished lobby of the building. Construction crew workers were hanging around casually, smoking cigarettes and drinking hot drinks when Remy stumbled out into the lobby. He took one slow unfocused look at the dumbstruck men; their cigarettes were dangling stupidly from their mouths.

"Mate, you ok there?" one of them asked tentatively.

He knew his face was probably as pale as the snow outside. "Get me a fucking ambulance, please."

Then Remy face-planted blissfully into the cold hard ground.

* * *

"Mr. Brooks are you awake?" someone was calling his name. Remy felt his body drift slowly down to earth. His eyelids fluttered slowly. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked around. There was a round faced nurse standing next to the bed.

"Hey daddy."

Remy felt his heart flutter when he saw his little girl. Her vivid blue eyes were huge in her pale face. He noticed that she had lost some more weight.

"Hey, Muffin." he croaked at her and his wonderful daughter laughed and slipped a piece of ice into his mouth to moist his lips. For a single moment, he wanted to puke so badly his body nearly convulsed. He was probably never going to stand looking at ice cubes ever again.

"How do you feel, Mr. Brooks?" the nurse asked kindly, using the remote to help him sit up. His whole body felt numb. There was probably assload of drugs in his system, enough to bring down a bull elephant. Agnes was watching him carefully, her eyes much too mature for a girl of six.

"I feel great, thanks." he just had to lie. He turned to his black haired baby girl. "How are you, Miss Muffin?"

She giggled and the sound was a wonderful drug itself. "I feel better, daddy. Miss Wong said I'm gaining weight."

Victoria Wong was a family friend and one of the best doctors in their city. She took care of Agnes and the girl loved her. He tried not to look at her bone thin wrists and the needle that was always attached to her inner elbow. Agnes leaned forward and kissed his cheek, giggling again at the scratch stubble that had sprouted.

"So, mommy's been taking care of you these days?" he asked her. Agnes looked sad.

"Mommy wants me to go live with her and Franklin in California. She says Frank has the money to help me get better. I don't want to go, daddy. Please, can I stay here with you?" Agnes was almost in tears. Remy opened his mouth but the door hissed open and a tall brunet woman walked in.

Speak of the devil.

Evelyn Royce glared coldly down at her ex-husband. Remy tried to smile but it was forced and they both knew it.

"Hey, Eve." he managed.

She didn't greet him, just launched into a whirlwind of angry remarks at how careless he was about their daughter's leukemia. When she finished, Agnes was in tears and he felt anger rise in him like a cobra. He would save their daughter even if he had to sell one of his kidneys for the money.

"Evelyn, you guys should calm down. Arguing in front of Agnes won't solve anything." an Asian lady walked in with a clipboard in her hand and greeted his furious wife. The woman smiled down at Remy and flipped a few pages.

"So, jarhead, how do you feel?" she asked. Remy rolled his eyes. "There's nothing wrong with you, except someone cut open your chest and decided to rearrange your guts. Nothing's missing, thank god. But the cut's pretty deep and there is some light haemorrhaging but not much. And your kidneys aren't missing."

She smiled sweetly and he felt the need to pout like a child. Ok, so he had thrashed a little in the ambulance, screaming about amateur kidney thieves but she didn't have to make fun of him in front of his precious Muffin. Agnes giggled at her words and Victoria winked at her.

Evelyn was asked to leave before she disturbed more patients. She stalked out and a few minutes later, Victoria wheeled Agnes back to her own room when she yawned.

Remy relaxed back into his bed and closed his eyes.

How had he gotten into this? The last thing he remembered was going to a really fancy company. There had been a job offering, an interview or something and the money offer was pretty good. He'd received ten percent of the money beforehand and the rest when he was qualified. He had gone to the company, sat down in one of the elegant white leather couches and had blacked out. Then he'd woken up in the damn dirty tub with his chest cut open.

God, he lived in a fucking crazy country.

* * *

Specimen MR001 was the most beautiful thing he had ever set eyes on, Sleek and black and not dribbling at the mouth like all the others. It was a male, and over seven foot long without its tail. The sharp barbed serpent like tail was currently wrapped around its hind legs, twitching slightly.

It sat calmly in the steel glass cage. He caressed the electric stimulator button and held his breath. Most of the other cases had been driven mad with the pain of the stimulations and had battered themselves against the glass until he just had to obliterate them. He refused to believe that they were of no intelligence. He hoped that they would be able to think and decide for themselves without the xenomorph queen.

With bated breath, he pressed the button. There was a high pitched whine as the alien jumped to the side. There was a small opening in one of the electric stimulator glass, small but there. If it could time the painful shocks and apply pressure against that one particular wall when there was a break, then it would be able to pass onto the next stimulation test. But the thing was that the breaks were patterned differently with each side of the four walls.

Specimen MR001 hissed at him through the glass. The gesture was pure viciousness. He felt excitement rise in his body, aroused and captivated by the beautiful creature. It leapt aside and received another painful shock. But unlike the others, it didn't go frantic. There was a small patch of neutral ground in the middle but the walls closed in on it slowly and it was going to have to act soon. The tail snaked out and tapped the fractured wall with the tip. It did that a few times mindless of the shocks and then without warning, charged at it with lightning speed.

The glass shattered and there was no pain. The alien cocked its head and looked around. There were a dozen piles of clothes in the small room. One of them was doused with its host's scent; the other scents were very close. He wanted to see if the new born aliens could identify its host. The few specimens that had passed the first test could not pass the second. They had no connections to their former hosts. But MR001 hesitated next to a particular pile. It lowered its sleek black head and nosed the pile carefully. Then it moved onto the next and the next until it stopped by a faded red flannel shirt and lowered itself next to it, wrapped its tail around itself and burrowed its head into the pile of clothes like a puppy.

His mouth dropped open and he let out the breath he had been holding. More tests must be done of course but it had truly given him hope. MR001 was one of a kind. He wiped his upper lip with a handkerchief out of habit.

Then things took a change for the worse.

MR001 suddenly started to violently injure itself, the tail lashed out and gouged into its hind leg, the fluid hissed as it dripped onto the floor. It hopped around in a circle, blood oozing freely down its wound.

"No no no, don't hurt yourself, please!" he screamed desperately. His hands fumbled for the knockout gas button and pressed it. The room clouded over with steam and gas. He couldn't see it anymore but he pressed his face frantically against the glass, leaving faint smears of sweat on the spotless glass. When the gas cleared, he took one glance and felt his legs give out beneath him.

It was gone.

There was a rough circular opening with a diameter of three feet in the steel enforced floor.

A few seconds later, the screams started.

* * *

**If it's good, please review and tell me you want another chapter. I'm groping around in the dark here.**


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks for the lovely reviews, everyone! Next update is in three days! Our predator comes into the picture! =)

PS: I CAN'T THINK OF A NAME FOR IT, PLZ HELP!

WARNING: SLIGHT GORE

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TWO

Jeremy spend a week locked in the confining cell of a hospital room and was finally dispatched after he threatened to sue for overcharge. Some policemen came by to investigate but he could tell their interest wasn't that great, after all he hadn't died. Obviously this little fun trip to the ER via ambulance wasn't going to be cheap. He could already feel it in the way his stomach twisted, saying 'yep, Remy ol' buddy, time to start savin'." he'd been right, much to his eternal dismay. The bill was huge and would surely put a sizable dent in his savings, something he couldn't afford to have happen. Agnes needed all the money he could get and yet at the ripe old age of thirty-three, he couldn't even get a proper job. It was a sad and somewhat harsh truth when he looked back on his past and realized that at some point in his miserable life, he could have gotten a decent start and turn things around.

The first thing Remy did after getting out was to go to the bank. There had been nine thousand dollars the last time he checked. he had gotten five thousand as the initial ten percent deal and a part of him wished that crazy company could maybe cash in the rest. There wasn't much hope, but a man could dream.

To Remy's great surprise, the digits glowed almost smugly in the small ATM machineAll fifty thousand dollars were in his account. For a tiny instant, Remy almost felt that getting his chest cut open was worth all the trouble and pain. He rubbed the stitches through his shirt and shrugged mentally. He didn't really want to go to the police on this one, after all they did give him the money. Maybe there had been some part of the contract that he hadn't really read thoroughly before sloppily jotting down his name. After withdrawing then thousand dollars for his and Agnes's hospital bills, he left for Benny Leto's diner/bar.

Benny's place was located in a tiny corner of their town, a good couple of miles away from the city hospital. Remy rattled along the bumpy road, his snow tires churning up flecks of ice and grit. He'd stuck his left arm out the window, tapping on the side of his battered silver Volvo SUV. The clean cold air was crisp and sweet, the sun shone in a clear blue sky and their tiny Colorado town was at her best, buried under six inches of sparkling cottony snow. The radio announcer at their local news station prattled on and on about the weather. He hummed tunelessly and let his mind wander.

Evelyn had divorced him. Even after two years, his heart still swelled painfully at the thought of waking up to an empty bed and an empty house. She had been his high school sweetheart and had been truly the love of his life. There had been no hesitation, the first moment he had set eyes on her, he just knew. She was the one. And she had been, with her rich brown hair and sparkling grey eyes and beautiful smile. They had loved and supported each other throughout their ten years together. Had it been that long? He couldn't remember. They had, despite the strong disapproval from both sides of the family, gotten married at the age of twenty three. Then they'd built a small haven in their hometown of Austin, Texas. He'd gone on to train in the military and would have gotten pretty far had it not been the explosion that had embedded over thirty pieces of broken shrapnel in his back. He'd been honourably discharged two months later and when Evelyn got to him, he'd still been in a deep coma. The doctors had told her he was probably going to remain like that for the rest of his life, an empty shell without so much as a flicker of brain activity.

But his wife hadn't given up on him. They moved from Texas to Colorado and she hid the knowledge from her disapproving parents who urged her to find someone else while she was still young. She'd come to the hospital everyday and sometimes she would bring their tiny baby daughter and Evelyn would read him books, old classics like Moby Dick and The Old Man and The Sea. It was odd how despite being in a coma, he could still remember the stories in clear detail. Then one day, he'd just sat up and grabbed her hand. It was simple as that, he didn't know whether it was god that had been moved by his family or the great love he had for his wife and daughter that gave him the strength to find his way out of the fog, but he had a feeling the sound of his wife's voice had a lot to do with it.

Then his life had spiralled out of control. He'd taken up drinking and drugs, had smashed their bathroom mirrors, unable to look at his hideously scarred back. He'd refused some job offers and had been kicked out of others for fights and brawls. His wife had taken on a secretary job, Franklin D. Royce's actually. As time passed, she slipped away from him little by little and he made no attempt to persuade her to stay. Then Agnes had gotten sick and he knew it was over. But she had given him one last gift and left Agnes under his custody.

He'd sobered up pretty quick and realized that his life lay in ruins around him. He'd gotten different jobs, dangerous ones and safe ones, just to get enough money for his daughter's treatment. She was now required to stay at the hospital twenty four seven. Benny had been the only guy that hadn't kicked him out for fighting and Remy was grateful for the bartender job. It didn't make a lot of money but he had other incomes, dangerous and illegal stuff yes, but he couldn't let his baby daughter die.

Something red and black shot out of the woods on the right and Remy jerked hard in his seat, coming out of his daydream as he stomped on the brakes. The car skidded to a halt, the engines whining in protest. He hopped out of his car and patted her side. He had heard a shriek and a thump but the thing had been moving too fast for him to identify what type of animal it was. There had been a huge tail alright, he had seen it. He circled to the front of his car and stared.

There was a gash about a foot long in the front bumper, the metal was hissing and steaming gently, some sort of strange green liquid oozed from the puncture. He felt the hair behind his neck rise and Goosebumps broke out over Remy's skin. The forest around him was suddenly silent. He looked around, eyes scanning the woods for any signs of movement. There was a flash of red on his left and he whirled around. There was nothing there.

Remy crouched down and raised a gloved finger to the gash in his car. The stuff ate through his leather gloves like fire through ice and he felt its heat over his finger tips before he shrugged the ruined glove off. Smoke drifted from it slowly. He stomped on it and went back to his car, in a foul mood. Fuck, he'd have to spend money to get it repaired.

Remy drove off, mindless of the thing that watched him hungrily from the safety of the trees.

He arrived at Benny's diner in twenty minutes, parked outside and walked into the surprisingly nicely furnished place. It was a diner by day and a bar by night. It was a pleasant place to work in and he loved the couple who owned the place. Benny sat in all his five foot three inches of glory upon a tall stool.

"So, you're back." he drawled. Some of the normal customers sitting in the back let out hooting laughs and someone wolf whistled. Benny looked Remy over and sighed. He pointed to the empty space next to an olive skinned woman.

"Take that side of the bar, kiddo. By the way, Olivia has missed you." he paused. "And I have too, kid. Don't do that. Again, okay? And I expect you to be here all night on New Year's Eve to make up for it."

Remy nodded gratefully and Benny patted his shoulder, the gesture incredibly smooth despite the fact that Remy towered over him.

Olivia elbowed him the moment he walked over. She pointed to the laughing group and scowled. "They've been passing rumours that you got man-raped."

Remy snorted loudly and she elbowed him again, looking serious. "Have you been, you know?"

He put on an expression of delicate pain and clutched his hip, "yes, you wouldn't believe how much it aches. I think I'm going to try it again sometime soon."

She glared and he laughed. "Sorry Olivia, but your expression was just great. No, I got into some trouble and I was in the hospital." Remy informed her.

After making sure he was okay, they went back to their old routine of her serving and him mixing. There was a nice comforting silence until some unfamiliar guys came in. They placed their orders and Remy couldn't help overhearing tidbits of their conversations.

"Haven't found it yet, there could be more...escaped..."

"Deaths... Learning pattern... It's really intelligent but...can't survive out here alone surely..."

"No deaths yet...town..."

"I got this one." Remy said and took the drinks over to the men. He set the coffee down onto the table and glanced at one of the men. He had a pale narrow face and limp black hair that kept falling into his pale washed out grey eyes. He kept dabbing a handkerchief to his upper lip as if by habit and the skin there was already a mild red colour. The other man was old and had an air of command to him. His hair was silver grey and swept back from his face, his lips drawn down in a mighty frown. They both stopped talking when Remy came close and the pale younger man gave a wet gasp that he muffled with his handkerchief.

"Anything else, sirs?" Remy asked dutifully. They both said no and he wandered back to his place at the front. The rest of the day passed uneventfully and the men left after finishing their coffees. The pale one kept staring at Remy as he walked out the diner doors. Remy rolled his eyes when Olivia said the guy probably wanted to sleep with him.

He left at eight thirty after promising to stay on New Year's Eve, but he would get the day off on New Year's Day. Snow had started to fall again and he was halfway to his car when someone grabbed the back of his jacket and shoved him into the side of a building.

His heart fell when he saw his assailant. The five men crowded around him in the tiny alley, all big and beefy. Damn it, he had forgotten about Leon Whitman and the borrowed money.

"Mr. Whitman is getting tired of your sorry excuses. You better pay the money back or else we'll take your precious little snivelling daughter and-"

Remy's fist shot out and met the man's jaw, cutting him off. After that, they all charged at him, punching and kicking at Remy with frenzy. Normally, Remy would have been fine in a fist fight against five men if he hadn't been wounded; he hadn't taken training for nothing. But he was, and after dodging a large fist to the face, someone elbowed him in the chest. Stars exploded in his vision and there was a loud ringing sound in his skull. He doubled over, arms wrapped around his middle to shield his stitches, he couldn't afford another visit to the hospital if his stitches reopened.

The thugs soon got tired of beating him up because Remy had stayed stubbornly silent the whole time. Someone spat at him and they said something but he couldn't hear over the sound of shrill ringing in his ears. He felt them walking away, laughing and jeering at him. Remy pressed his bruised face into the dirty icy ground; it was probably going to swell up tomorrow morning. He slumped there for about ten minutes until he found the strength to stand and walk to a pay phone. Remy dug out four quarters, slotted them in and called Victoria. His nose was still. Dripping blood onto the ground and it felt a little bit broken. Someone had kneed him in the face. He wiped the blood away with the back of his sleeve. Victoria answered on the third ring.

"Hey Vic, I ah, I can't go see Agnes tonight. Tell her I'll be there in about two days." after my face stops swelling. He didn't say that part but Victoria could hear his slightly off-keyed voice and could probably deduce that he'd been in a fight.

"Oh, god. Jeremy, have you been fighting again?" she demanded in the phone. He winced and wiped his face again. Blood had crusted on his chin and his nose felt like it was swelling fast.

"Have you ripped your stitches? Is it bad?" she asked impatiently and he told her no, the stitches were fine. They were in fact fine; except the clear yellow pus had started seeping out again and it had swollen too, so much that it looked like he had a huge earthworm taped to his chest.

"Remy, you need to keep it in check. No more trouble from now on or Evelyn is going to take Agnes under her custody; I overheard her saying she was going to sue if you disagreed. Your daughter wants to stay with you but I doubt the court would be in favour of you if you keep up the fighting."

He cursed under his breath and was about to say something else but the toneless voice was telling him he was out of minutes. Remy hung up after telling Victoria he would visit his daughter as soon as his face was back to normal. With that in mind, he hobbled out of the booth and slowly made his way back to his car in the drifting snow, unaware of the carnage soon to take place.

* * *

Darry Fields and his goons wandered out from the secluded alleyway, feeling pretty good about themselves. Jeremy Brooks was the last name on the list of people to terrorize for today and they had successfully finished their job without any casualties. The boss would be pleased, not that any of them small fries had ever laid eyes on the loan shark named Leon Whitman. Now they were headed to the nearby bar for a couple of drinks.

Snow and wind picked up flecks of ice on the ground, the sound chilling and rattling like the howls of the demented. Darry pulled up the collars of his snow suit and walked a little faster. The light from an old lamppost illuminated his shadow and three others walking behind him. Darry walked on, his slightly drugged mind sluggishly turning its gears, trying to figure out what was wrong with that picture. Then he stopped and realized something. One of them was gone. Darry turned around and scowled at the startled faces looking at him. One, two, three.

"Where the fuck did Eddie go?" he demanded. The other three men all shrugged and mumbled useless things. Darry rolled his eyes and started to retrace his footprints. "He'd better not be thinking of slipping away this time, it's his turn to pay for the drinks."

They all turned back and headed back along the way to the alley. Darry squinted as something red streaked past him. He snorted and walked fast, squinting through the low light and snowflakes. Someone was sitting at the far end of the alley with their back to him. Darry squinted some more. Was it the dude, Jerry what's his name? Had they beat him stupid?

Darry felt impatience welling inside is chest and stalked over to the man. The man was seated Japanese style, with his hands in his lap and his legs tucked underneath his ass. Darry walked closer and saw the familiar yellow snow suit Eddie had been wear that week and cursed. He kicked the dude, thinking it was all just a stupid prank. That retarded bitch. He was fucking freezing out here, no way was he going to find this funny.

Eddie toppled over, his shoulders slumped and his head rolling back. It kept rolling and rolled off his shoulders with a wet plop, white steam coming off the severed area as his hot crimson blood met the cold snowy ground with a loud hiss. Darry stared and the shining wet skinless face grinned at him mockingly, its tongue ripped out of its mouth and gushing blood from the hole.

Darry screamed. One of the other men screamed too. He whirled around, cold sweat and goose bumps rising out of him like lava. There were two other men left. What?! There were two other men left? Where had the other guy gone? He ran toward them, they would have a better chance of survival if they stayed together. Darry drew out the small hand gun he always carried with him and raised it up.

"Who the fuck is this?! Come out or I swear I'm going to shoot!"

White vapour clouded the air in front of his face and Darry brandished his gun wildly. Something dropped down from above and he emptied his rounds into it. There was a wet gurgling sound from the thing as it went still. He approached cautiously and toed the thing. It flipped over and he saw with horror that it was Joe, the other guy that had gone missing just a second ago. He swore. Whatever it was, the thing was playing with them like a cat with mice.

There was a flash of red and something came down one of the old building walls and the next instant the guy next to him went down in a bright burst of red. Hot metallic blood splashed the right side of his face and Darry felt hot liquid run down his pant leg. He had peed himself. He'd fucking peed himself.

Darry's legs stopped working. The other man, Jackie, a huge black guy, was running blindly out of the alley. Darry knew he would be dead before he even set foot outside the alley. The thing stalking them was getting tired of games. The kills were now efficient and quick. Darry saw the thing jump down from the shadowy sky, land gracefully and raise its long sleek black tail to strike and down went Jackie.

It turned to him, saving him for last. The thing slid closer and into the light. Snow swirled loudly around them, howling like lamenting souls from hell. Darry saw it. He would have laughed if he wasn't so scared, would have given a hysterical giggle because the monster, and yes it was a monster, was wearing a faded red flannel shirt. He saw its elongated head, sleek and black as the gaping jaws of death, he saw the strong jaw and the gaping teeth and he saw the strong muscular body underneath the flapping flannel, but he still wanted to laugh so much that he felt like crying. Because what the hell, he didn't know monsters from the black lagoon preferred wearing red flannel shirts. Strong arms poked out awkwardly from the sleeves of the shirt and the thing hissed at him, a smaller set of teeth shooting out of its mouth. Darry raised his gun and at the same time, the thing lunged.

There were a series of gunshots, a long piercing scream and all was silent once again. Snow fell lightly over the five dead bodies piled in the cold abandoned alleyway.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Still no name for the predator...pouting...give me a name ppl! Please?**

**Rating: T for a little bit of Blood **

**REVIEW AND I UPDATE! ROAR! ENJOY!**

* * *

**Three**

Jeremy awoke to the sound of someone's fist pounding on his front door. For a single moment, he considered going right back to sleep and forgetting the noise but the pain in his body was slowly coming back and sleep slipped away entirely as a fresh bout of knocking came from downstairs. He sighed and got up, wincing as the stitches in his chest stretched and burned. Remy's left eye had swollen shut and his cheek felt puffy to the touch, although he couldn't feel any pain. He couldn't even remember how he had even gotten home yesterday in this shape yesterday.

He took the stairs down slowly, trying in vain to reopen his swollen eye but all he could see was a small sliver of light and he gave up. The person at the door knocked again, this time managing to sound even more impatient.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. No need to shit your pants." he rasped, hands going to his throat. Even talking pained him.

He opened the door and stared. Two cops stared back, hands on hips and wearing identical expressions of 'son, you're in a heap of trouble alright'. He opened his mouth to ask but the blond cop beat him to it.

"Mr. Brooks, I suppose. Looks like you had a fun evening, we have a couple of questions to ask you about what happened last night and we'd like you to follow us to the station."

Remy squinted down at him, the man stiffening and widening his stance under his scrutiny. He finally opened his mouth. "Umm, why?"

"You know what you did." the more handsome black-haired one said in a cold voice. Remy wanted to roll his eyes, what was this, a fucking rerun of robo-cop? He gave up when the men continued to stare blandly at him, their car lights flaring in the background. He was suddenly oddly grateful for living so far into the woods. At least the neighbours wouldn't have any embarrassing gossip to talk about at dinnertime.

"Yeah man, just let me put something on." Remy sighed and wandered back inside, not bothering to close the door in their faces. Great, he was the one that got beaten up and now the cops were here to arrest him? Where was the justice in that?

He walked upstairs, washed his face and brushed his teeth. There was a prominent shadow of stubble coming along but Remy just didn't feel like shaving it off his face. Maybe when it grew longer, he could pass time by braiding it in prison or some shit. He limped into his bedroom and sniffed at an old t-shirt lying crumpled on the ground. It smelled strongly of blood and dirt, and it occurred to him that it was probably not going to sit well with the cop if he wore that particular shirt. Remy was in the process of pulling his own faded shirt off his body when someone came in. The black-haired one blinked at him and he blinked back.

"You look like shit." the young man said promptly. Remy smiled humourlessly. It was true. Black and purple bruises had surfaced during the sleepy hours of last night and the thick stitched wound on his chest had crusted over with a nasty-colored film again, as Remy hadn't the energy left to properly bandage the thing last night.

"Hand me the roll of gauze over there." Remy called behind him. The cop did so with surprising willingness and even gave him a hand in wrapping the thing around his chest. By the time Remy was dressed and ready, the other cop had wandered in, eyes flickering between the two of them standing together.

"Don't get too chummy with the suspect, Williams."

The brunet cop stepped away hurriedly and moved toward the door. Remy followed at a more sedate pace, his body starting to ache even more now.

He'd been sitting in an interrogation room for approximately eighty three seconds when a fat man with a head like a boiled egg burst in. The light reflecting from the man's shining forehead was enough to temporarily blind him. The man slammed a manila folder onto the metal table before Remy and folded his arms.

"So, Mr. Brooks, where were you last night?"

And that was the first question in a series of questions. Remy explained that he still did not know what was going on and refused to speak until his lawyer came, omitting the fact that he didn't have one. He called Victoria instead.

"Mr. Brooks, last night five men were brutally slaughtered in an alley outside of town. Now, you may be wondering how any of this has anything to do with you, but we found traces of your blood in the dirt and also your name was on a list found in the side pocket of one of the victims." he held up a hand when Remy opened his mouth to object. "Not to mention that you happen to work in the bar not twenty steps from that alley, and you look like shit today."

Remy shut his mouth. The man stared seriously at him. His head was spinning with the assload of information the man had just unleashed on him. Darry and his stupid friends were dead? How was that possible? He had just seen them only hours ago. And if they were dead, he certainly wasn't to blame.

The man took his silence as a sign to continue. "We did a little background check on you this morning and guess what came up?"

Remy kept his mouth shut. The fat man continued with a sarcastic grin.

"Ex-navy dropout, hired gun, a long history of bar fights and violence came up, that's what."

Remy could keep silent no longer.

"I was discharged due to injury in the field; I was fucking paralyzed when they shipped me back. I took those jobs because my daughter needed money for her treatments, as for the fighting, that's all in the past now."

The man snorted dismissively and was about to start again when the door opened and the brunet cop who had escorted him there came in, another goddamn folder in his hand.

"Sir, the coroner's report came out." he handed the folder over and Fatty gave a stiff nod and thanked him. Williams went over to a corner and stood there, not bothering to hide his curiosity.

Remy craned his neck to look at the photos when Fatty slapped the folder down on the table. His eyes widened at the gruesome sight of a skinless skull staring with unseeing eyes and refused to look at any more. Fatty sighed distractedly, one hand going to his balding head and scratching at the few tuffs of hair still there.

"Sir, the coroner says one man couldn't have possibly done the job by himself." Williams suddenly interjected from his corner. "The force of cutting a man's head clean off in one stroke is beyond a normal human's strength, not to mention one that was recently discharged from the hospital."

"So you think he's innocent, do you?" Fatty looked like he was going to have an aneurysm. Williams shrugged and didn't say anything else.

"Nevertheless, he does hold pieces of the puzzle and I will keep him here under observation until further notice." Fatty glared down at Remy and Remy glared back.

"Sir," another cop burst in, looking mildly panicked, "civilian reports another murder up in XXX."

Fatty cursed and turned toward the door. "Williams, stay and watch over him. He's not going anywhere anytime soon."

Remy dropped his head onto the cold surface and groaned as Williams walked over and pulled a chair up to sit across from him.

Fifteen minutes later, Victoria swept through the doors of the police station and twenty minutes later, Remy was bundled up in the passenger seat of her car, feeling increasingly confused.

"How?" he began and she slapped his cheek lightly, eyes serious.

"Lloyd owes a favour and I can't let you be tortured to death in there." she said and Remy realized Lloyd was the brunet cop.

"He seems to like you." Remy remarked.

"Yes well, he's been crushing on me since kindergarten. It's a small town." she said lightly, but he heard a smile in her voice.

"What will happen if Fatty returns to find me gone?" he asked.

"Fatty? Oh, that's Lloyd's uncle, Bruce. Don't worry, they've already crossed you off the list of suspects." she laughed and he closed his eyes, letting the sound of crunching gravel and snow lull him to sleep. Gods, he loved her.

* * *

Remy woke from a nightmare, legs tangled within the sheets and skin clammy with sweat. The wound on his chest was throbbing in tune with his heart and the ghostly flashes of bright fluorescent lights overhead still seared his retinas. He'd been lying on a surgery table with his chest cut open, hands and legs bound with leather straps, a hideous tiny pale milky thing that looked like a snake poked out from the gaping wound. It opened its mouth and he screamed.

Remy struggled out of bed, eyes watering from pain and stumbled over to his bathroom and threw up in the sink. He grimaced in disgust at the chunks of undigested food and washed them down the drain. His stomach churned and Remy gulped in a mouthful of water to rid himself of the taste. He sat on the toilet for a couple of minutes, getting his strength back and going over the events that had happened to him over the last few days. His life was so fucked up. He was one walking bruise.

Remy swallowed a handful of painkillers, not bothering to stay within the prescription amount, and gulped down an iced beer. His stomach felt like lead now and Remy went into the living room, pulled down the curtains and flicked on the lamp. It was dark outside and snow fell silently against the window. He opened the TV and stared at the screen blankly. Victoria had bandaged his chest again before leaving him to sleep the day off and it was half past seven when he regained consciousness.

Twilight was on and Remy changed the channel with a snort of amusement. He settled on a rerun of a Rockets game and sat there, not really looking at the screen. The painkillers had kicked in and his head felt strangely like it was floating in the clouds and he had a vague notion that he probably shouldn't have swallowed his meds with cold beer.

He'd almost drifted off again when he heard something, a strange thud that seemed to shake the couch he had been sitting on. Remy blinked owlishly and stood up, mind still fluttering in a drug-induced haze. He stumbled toward the sound and found himself standing in the kitchen. Remy blinked at the sight of a huge ugly crack that had appeared out of nowhere on his kitchen wall. Plaster still dribbled out of the ugly crack like blood, leaving a small pile on the ground. He stared stupidly for a few seconds, mind repeating a loop over and over in his head between 'that's gonna take a lot of green slips to fix' and 'shit'.

Then the floor to ceiling window next to the wall shattered with a huge boom and a figure catapulted into his kitchen, landing on the wooden table in the middle and cracking the legs like crazy straws under the weight. Remy's military training kicked in almost immediately, adrenaline flooding his veins and sore body protesting as he threw himself sideways to avoid the lashing tail that had followed the thing that came in through the window. His ribs felt ticklish and Remy cursed himself for taking the drugs beforehand. Pain was good in such a situation and would keep his head clear and his body quick, but his feet felt leaden and his head was well, still pretty messed up.

Remy peered down through the layer of dust and wood splinter that had been thrown into the air after the crazy entry. the creature was twisting in the debris and making this weird shrill whine and Remy had to slap himself in the face when he caught sight of the thing with its huge elongated head and seemingly mech-like black body. He half wished it was merely an illusion from the drug and beer combo but the sharp tang of blood that had floated along the breeze through the broken window was unmistakable. The thing smelled like a portable slaughter house.

He ran back into the living room, groping for something to use as a weapon and grabbed a fire tong without thinking. Gripping it in his hands and ignoring the funny ticklish feeling in his chest, he advanced back toward the kitchen. Remy peered in and barely managed to draw his head back as the tail broke the plaster inches from his right eye. Remy ducked and swung the fire poker. It met flesh with a jarring crunch and his arms felt tingly from the force. There was a high-pitched inhuman sound and the fire poker came back half-melted, the tip still sizzling with a strange dark green liquid hissing steam into the air. Remy threw the thing away and made for the stairs. There was a shot gun in an upstairs closet and he had to get to it before the thing came to its senses and severed his head. He had a sure feeling in his gut that the creature was the thing that had killed the five men in the alley.

Fear for his life made the pains disappear and blood pounded in his ears as Remy climbed the dozen or so stairs up to the second floor. It never felt so far away. He ran toward the closet and slammed the door shut, not before seeing a huge black shape thrashing its way up the stairs, shattering the pictures on the wall along the way. Remy locked the door and rushed over to the top shelf and groped wildly for the gun and bullets. He forced his hands to be steady as he put the rounds in, grounding his teeth against the urge to scream as the door splintered. He emptied five rounds into the door as the black head came into view behind the missing splinters of the closet door. The thing screamed its inhuman cry and head butted the door again, managing to get its head inside. Remy stared at the slobbering thing as it dribbled saliva onto his cream carpet. A smaller mouth shot out between it's teeth and Remy turned his head barely in time as it punctured the shelf behind him. He saw a letter opener and before the smaller set of teeth could retract, he grabbed the thing and sliced down with all his might. There was a horrid cry and the thing drew back sharply, leaving only the small set of teeth wiggling on the ground and Remy stabbed it until it stopped. He grimaced and grabbed a handful of rounds and slotted them into the gun. Five more shots and he heard a loud thud outside the door.

All was silent and Remy felt the energy seep out of his body like blood from an open wound. He threw the gun away and peered past the broken door. The sight made fear rush right back. The thing was gone. He froze for a second, trying to decide whether to stay in the closet or go out. There was only a letter opener in here and if the bullets ran out, he would be at its tender mercy.

Remy grabbed the gun again and pulled himself painfully to his feet and quietly stepped out of the closet. The instant he stepped out, he knew he had made a mistake. There was a flash of black as the tail lashed out and the gun went flying, his body flying in the opposite direction. Remy vaulted over the banisters and fell to the first floor with a muffled thud, his head connecting with the carpeted ground hard enough to bring black spots into his vision but not enough to crack his skull. Remy felt blood splash onto his tongue as his teeth closed over the flesh of his inner cheek and bit down.

The creature hissed at him triumphantly from the second floor and jumped down gracefully. Remy grit his teeth and spat out a mouthful of blood and using all fours to reach the living room, he began to crawl. The creature hissed as it advanced, its mutilated mouth projecting flecks of dark green spittle.

Remy reached the fireplace the same time the creature decided to pounce, its weight landing directly on his wounded chest. Remy screamed at the feeling of ribs creaking in protest and felt warm wetness spread from the stitches in his chest. He'd probably gotten is stitches ripped clean open from the pressure.

His hand groped blankly and closed over the other fire poker and with a burst of dying strength brought it up in an arc. The pointed tip sunk into the side of its skull and came through the other side. Remy rolled out from underneath the thing which had collapsed onto the ground, twitching erratically.

The tattered black shirt over his chest was moist with blood and Remy fought the urge to cough, knowing that if he did, more blood would come up than air. Black dots danced in his vision and Remy closed his eyes, wishing that he could have at least seen his daughter one last time before dying. With that last thought firmly planted, he blacked out.

* * *

He had been following his apprentice for two hours straight. The cold weather was starting to agitate him, making the camouflage malfunction at odd intervals. The young blood was not doing any better, managing to slip off the branch of a tree while in pursuit. He snorted and quickened his pace, making sure his apprentice was in his view. The hard meat had wandered further up ahead, and impatience was gradually taking over.

The younger yautja jumped down and landed in the snow, spear flashing as it charged at the xenomorph. During his short contemplation, much had occurred and he watched silently from the trees. He would not lend a helping hand, for it would be considered dishonourable to disturb a hunter during their hunt and besides, it was the new blood's first trial.

If he could kill the alien, then he would be welcomed into the clan as a blooded warrior, if not, he would bring eternal shame upon himself and commit an honourable suicide.

He blinked and realized that his mind had wandered again, the cold seemingly the main cause. His apprentice was running toward the fallen xenomorph, triumph already at hand when two more xenomorphs came out of the tree on both sides. It was an ambush; they had been lead there on purpose. He drew his spear and dropped down from the tree in a shower of snow. He went without camouflage as the snow would reveal his position anyway. He really hated cold weather.

The battle ended quickly, he was a seasoned warrior after all and he slayed the two xenomorphs quickly. As their blood hissed quietly in the glistening snow, he looked up. There was movement and without a word to his newly blooded apprentice, he turned to pursue the shadow.

The third xenomorph had crashed through an occupied human residence and he watched the entire battle from just outside the broken window. It ended with the human male lying in what he knew was their recreation room, blood blossoming on its chest. He had been impressed and interested by the event. Never had he witnessed a human take down an adult xenomorph while wounded so. The human twitched feebly and went still. It was a pity that it had died; he could have given the human their mark of honour for killing the alien.

He stepped past the shards of glass and into the room with the dead xenomorph and scanned the human's body for wounds. The huge gaping wound on its chest caught his attention and he bent down, using the tip of his spear to rip away the wet material on its chest. It moved feebly and let out a groan. He reared back in surprise. He had thought the thing dead. He scanned the humanoid carefully again and felt more respect for the thing. It had been wounded and drugged out of its little mind. He trilled curiously, cocking his head and searching his memory.

The wound looked familiar and he realized that it must have been a host to the xenomorphs because he had seen the lab in the mountains before and had witnessed the experiments there. The lab just happened to be close to the human residence. Now completely captured by curiosity, he leaned forward again. The human would live, he decided as he found his medicine kit.

He withdrew a tube of bright blue liquid and spread the contents onto the human's chest, over the wound. Its skin hissed as the liquid came into contact and the human convulsed, dark red liquid streaming down its chin. Dazed eyes fluttered open warily and before it could catch sight of him, he knocked the human out again with one large fist. The thing would not set eyes upon him just yet, he decided, there would be time for further introduction.

After bandaging the wound, he cut off a piece of its prey and branded the human with the mark. Satisfied, he stood and walked over to the fallen alien and was in the middle of dragging it away when he noticed the human had started to shiver. Cold wind blew in from the open window, bringing flecks of snow. He dropped the thing and walked back a few steps, purring thoughtfully. A few minutes later, he departed, leaving behind a mutilated sofa and the stuffing and seat covers bundled around the human like a cocoon. That way it wouldn't freeze to death, he thought with a satisfied trill.

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**REVIEW! HUGS!**


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Here's an update, I'm doing this on my pad, so if there's some format problems, let me know. Thanks to Timefather64 fher the great name! I've decided to name the apprentice Gladius! Thanks!

anyway enjoy! And no, the cute alien is not dead! I don't know how I managed to make it seem so...

rating: T

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**Four**

His house had been targeted by crazy religious alien terrorists from outer space. Yes, that was it. Remy stared at the ceiling, eyes glazed in stupefied wonder and disbelief. What remained of his favorite couch lay in chunks and fluffs around him. Remy did not feel like getting up, in fact he could feel the icy blast of the wind against his exposed cheek. He prayed that it was the window that he had left open instead of a whole wall missing, but apparently, God wanted to mess with him today because yeah, what remained of his gorgeous floor to ceiling window were in pieces on the kitchen floor and there was a huge chunk of the second floor banister missing. The photos along the wall were shattered and the carpet was ruined by scattered blood.

Also, someone had drawn a fucking symbol with a laser or something because his fucking handsome face was no more. The small symbol was carved deep into his skin, leaving puffy grooves and the skin around it an irritated red. Remy stared at himself in the mirror of the first floor bathroom. There were heavy bags under his eyes, his left cheek was swollen and the stubble situation was out of control by now. In summary, he looked like shit.

He scratched his chest absently as he turned to stagger out of the room. Then as if suddenly remembering something, he turned back and stared at himself in the mirror. That nagging feeling in the back of his head started again and Remy slowly pulled his ragged blood soaked shirt off his body. It had hardened into a vest-like thing during the night and he threw it into the sink. So that was what felt different. Remy stared at himself stupidly in the mirror and touched his chest. The gaping wound that he had been sure he had torn last night was just a thin faded pink line now. The stitches were gone and he felt no pain when he pressed his thumb against the protrusion. The wound looked years old. Remy stretched his arms out and took in a deep breath, watching his ribs expand in the mirror minus the pain. That was strange but he sure wasn't going to look a gift horse in the teeth or whatever the saying was.

Remy washed his face, made a face at the sink full of the blood that had come off of his ruined shirt and made his way back to the scene of the battle. The living room carpet was finished, there was no doubt. There was a huge pool of what looked like his blood next to the fireplace and a big chunk was burnt next to it. Remy recalled how the giant bug-like monster's blood had eaten through the fire poker and shuddered. ok, so he had to get new carpeting as well. He took a long look around him to calculate the extent of the damage and practically felt his balls shrivel up. Did his insurance company even cover extraterrestrial damage?

He didn't bother calling the police. They'd probably lock him up and ask a bunch of questions that would eventually make him lose his temper and the incident from before would repeat itself. Besides, Remy was certain the police didn't know how to deal with such things either. Was he suppose to walk in to the station and announce that he had been attacked by an alien who somehow magically healed his chest wound when he was about to die? That would make the front cover of their local newspaper. Grimacing in distaste, he shuffled out the door toward his car. He'd have to spend a fortune to get all this repaired.

Remy ended up spending two days cleaning up the mess left by the attack. He put a makeshift plastic film over the jagged remains of his window to keep out the worst of the snow. Despite the drawbacks, he still felt mightily proud of himself when he finished the job.

Christmas was just around the corner and Remy planned to spend it with his daughter. Agnes was so looking forward to the event that she had started planning a month ahead. He wasn't going to disappoint her, so Remy asked for a day off in advance to prepare for his daughter's gifts. Christmas decorations sprung up like wild flowers during the night and everywhere he looked, families bundled up snugly in thick winter coats walked hand in hand, smiling and joking with one another. He felt a pang of longing at the sight. When would Agnes finally get better? Would she ever get better? The questions that haunted him day and night came back as he watched a little girl hopping around in the snow while her parents walked together, hands loosely clasped. he wanted to give his daughter that kind of childhood, blue skies and open fields instead of dull fluoresce lights and grey ceilings.

He sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. The house still needed fixing and Remy had been getting as many odd jobs as his body could take to make up for the money lost on renovating and he hadn't slept over three hours in the last week.

Despite the costly price of a floor to ceiling window, he decided to keep the window instead of erecting a wall. If Agnes came out of the hospital, she would probably love the view. But a pane of glass that size was going to be pretty expensive.

"Have a good day, sir." the blonde girl in in the elf costume at the cash register batted her long lashes at him as Remy took the receipt from her fingers. He smiled back and stepped out into the cold december air. Remy jogged toward his old SUV and slid in, rubbing his freezing fingers together. He never really liked cold weather but somehow they ended up living in this remote little town.

Returning to an empty house with an armful of Christmas shopping, no scratch that, an empty house with half a wall missing and various furniture broken, was possibly the most pathetic and depressing thing Remy had ever done. He dropped off a small twelve inch Christmas tree on the dining table, leaving a much bigger one for Agnes's hospital room, and started to wrap the presents. He didn't have many living relatives, so the pile was depressingly small, but Remy wrapped every present carefully, folding the corners delicately and fluffing the bows on top to make them look especially enticing.

Snow fell silently outside and the sky gradually lost color, fading into darkness as night fell. Remy was entirely absorbed in his wrappings and if he took the time to look up, he would have seen the thing peering at him through the window, its body long and sleek black against the white landscape.

* * *

"Hi daddy!" Agnes's squeal was heard a mile away. Remy smiled at the elderly couple that walked past and brushed melting snow off of his coat. The round faced nurse at the visitor's desk nodded at him and he wished her a merry Christmas. He set down the bulging bag he held in his left hand outside the hospital room and walked in. The floor-to-ceiling Christmas tree with hundreds of small golden ornaments and twinkling lights glowed enticingly in a corner and the floor had been covered with a huge rich crimson rug. Presents scattered themselves all around and Remy sighed in defeat. He should have known Frank was going to try everything to worm into his baby girl's heart.

"Hey Muffin." the familiar exchange made him smile and Remy pressed a kiss against his daughter's forehead. "umm, daddy got you a tree but it's not nearly as big, you still want to put. It up together?"

She hugged him quickly and nodded eagerly. Remy felt his heart clinch in a painful way as he watched her carefully arrange the artificial branches into their proper positions. Her fingers were painfully thin. He loved her so much and it physically hurt to see her so frail and so lifeless.

"Daddy, lets put the star on together."

Remy blinked away his tears and took a deep breath, smiled at the girl seated on the carpet and took her fingers into his. They put the star on their tiny tree and smiled at each other.

"Merry Christmas, Muffin."

"Merry Christmas, daddy."

They ate together in bed, Remy feeding her with a fork and spoon, telling her stories and funny jokes as she chewed. When Agnes asked about his wound, Remy said it was all better now and quickly changed the topic. Victoria dropped by and they exchanged gifts and greetings. Remy carefully avoided the subject of his own health and Victoria didn't pry, although she did inform him that Agnes was getting worse.

"I know I shouldn't be telling you this on Christmas but she needs to transfer to another hospital in Texas if it worsens and I don't know if you have the money for it. Maybe it's time to make up with Frank and Evelyn." she gave Remy a long look when he punched the wall hard enough to bruise his knuckles.

"Don't let your pride and grudges ruin the future of your daughter, ok?" she patted his arm and bid him good night.

The rest of the night passed in comfortable recreational games and occasional visits from Agnes's nighttime nurses. Remy tried his best to keep up the smile on his face but the deep purple shadows under his daughter's eyes and her painfully thin form made it almost impossible. He put her to sleep after the strike of midnight and set all her presents beneath the tiny tree they'd put up together. He straightened up and stared at the monstrously tall thing looming in the corner, glowing gold and white, and smiled a tired resigned smile. If Frank could indeed help Agnes get better, then he would allow them to take her somewhere else, but he had a feeling that if he let go, he would never see her again.

Sighing again, he turned toward the door. Remy hesitated and turned around, walking to his daughter's bedside, he leaned down and kissed her forehead. Agnes whimpered in her sleep, brows drawn together as if in pain. He smoothed her hair back and smiled down at her.

"I love you."

Them Remy stepped out of the room and headed toward his car outside, mindless of the snow swirling around his shoulders. He was going to make a stop at Evelyn's house and tell her he'd made up his mind.

* * *

Alien POV

He crouched silently behind the metal contraption, tail curled around his haunches to conceal himself. Snow fell in a fine crust over his hard plated body, but the cold didn't bother him. Instead, all of his attention was focused on the figure making its way slowly toward him. His mouth watered in anticipation as the scent of home and safety washed over him. Nearly purring in happiness, he readied his body, wanting nothing else but to fling himself into Mother's arms.

Something sleek and long moved behind his human and he nearly hissed, body tensing. His mind warred between staying and surprising Mother and going to investigate the hostile male following him.

The other male was getting closer, he could smell the rotting stench coming off the other in thick waves. His lips drew back in a silent snarl and he slowly unfurled his tail, ready to slink away when he heard the sound of the metal contraption's door opening. Mother was getting in.

He made up his mind and slid silently away from the car, focused on the other alien. He caught the other male in mid-leap, their bodies twisting in midair and landing on the ground with a muffled thud that sent up clouds of snow and dirt. The other male was dismally small and he made short work of it by stabbing his tail through the other's mouth and ripping its skull off, letting its blood splatter on the ground carelessly. He looked back toward his precious human and watched as the taillights of the car turned the corner and disappeared. He snarled in frustration and bent down, clamped his sharp white teeth over the still twitching body and dragged it slowly away.

* * *

Remy sighed as he stared at the thing Olivia had handed him a few seconds ago. It sat in a tiny brown heap, the material pathetically thin and tiny. It was New Years Eve and he was currently holed up in Benny's bar, waiting for the first batch of customers to arrive. Agnes had agreed to spend New Year's Eve with her mother. This year Benny had decided to hold a costume party and the winners would receive a month of free breakfast.

He wasn't technically required to wear a costume but Olivia had decided to dress him up anyway. He wouldn't have objected if she'd given him a better costume, but dressing as a caveman? Was she hinting something here?

He squinted at the tiny thong like material and tried to understand how it would cover his body, not to mention it was below zero outside the bar. Olivia, in all her sexy witch glory was seated by the cash register, her face deathly pale under heavy makeup and lipstick.

"Really?" He turned around and glared tiredly at her. Olivia winked and pinched Remy's cheek.

"Hurry up sexy, we have to open in ten minutes. Cars are pulling up." She gestured toward the heavy snow outside. "Besides, you'd look perfect as a caveman, with that new scar of yours."

She walked off and Remy sighed in defeat as he walked into the back room. People were already starting to arrive and the other bartenders were already in costume. He shrugged off his heavy sweater and snow pants and slipped into the thin fabric. Like he had expected, the thing clung to him in all the wrong places.

He turned toward the washroom mirror and blinked in surprise. Light bronze muscles curved gracefully underneath the fake fur and he realized that Olivia had actually been right about him looking great in a thong. Remy snorted and hefted his fake club, he ruffed his hair a bit to add to his gruff appearance and headed out toward the front of the bar.

A tidal wave of sound and lights crashed down upon him and Remy blinked in surprise. People of all shapes and sizes filed in through the glass doors in the front and Remy had to choked back a laugh as a middle-aged man in a huge cigarette costume got caught in the entrance way.

The party was annoyingly loud but very successful. It was totally Benny's style. Remy began with passing drinks to the crowd and ended up hiding behind the safety of the bar after a few women and men got a little bit too touchy and his thong threatened to disappear. He didn't feel disappointed since he rather preferred the small private space and enjoyed mixing the trickier drinks.

"Enjoying yourself?" Benny's head was barely visible from behind a mammoth of a man dressed as Frankenstein, but Remy managed to catch the man's words as he danced by, his Zorro cape flaring dramatically.

"Yeah, boss. You look great, despite the fact that. I can barely see your head over the counter."

Remy ducked as the fake plastic sword swished though the air and hit the talking fish mounted on the wall behind him. Benny scowled.

After two hours, most people were either passed out on the floor or slowly swaying to and fro in the dance pit, so Remy was surprised when he saw two newcomers walk in through the door. They approached slowly and his mouth dropped open in amazement,but he hid his surprise by coughing and gesturing toward the various bottles behind him.

"Anything to drink, gentlemen?"

They stood there, silent and graceful in their heavy costumes and Remy was secretly betting they would win this year's contest no matter what, because he was dead sure that no one had put as much effort into their costumes as they did.

The taller male turned his head towards Remy as he spoke, his dreadlocks rattling on his strong shoulders and made a curious purring noise, head cocked to the side. Remy felt new respect for the men, not only were they dressed in what looked like a hundred pounds of steel alloy, but they also acted like their costumes.

"Hey Benny, I think I found this year's winners!" Remy called over his shoulder as Benny twirled past like a midget ballerina.

"Drinks on the house!" Benny called and Remy grinned as he turned toward the two men, still standing eerily silent in front on him, and started mixing their most popular drink- a secret recipe of different alcohol topped with a few chunks of frozen lemon slices.

"Man, you guys have awesome costumes, haven't seen anything like it for years." He grinned as he mixed the pinkish drinks and handed them over.

One of the men reached out suddenly and grabbed Remy's wrist with one huge hand. He froze in surprise and nearly dropped the drink he was holding. It sloshed over the rim of the glass and a slice of lemon fell to the pristine glass counter with a wet plop. It took all of his professional bar tending training not to twist himself free. Instead, he took a deep breath and looked into the deep maroon eyepiece and opened his mouth.

"It's ok sir, the drinks are on the house. If you don't want this particular kind, you can order another."

The man in the huge metal costume ignored him, his fingers tightening around Remy's wrist and drawing him forward so that he was bent over the counter surface. Remy's heartrate picked up and his other hand slowly clenched into a fist. He would count to ten, he would not start a fight, it was New Year's Eve, he would...

A rough hand placed itself onto his left cheek and slowly traced the scar there. Their faces were close now and Remy could hear a constant soft thrill coming deep from within the man's throat. The hand made tingling sparks jump over his suddenly sensitive skin and the hairs on the nape of Remy's neck rose as goosebumps appeared. He felt a tinge of fear and uncertainty as the strange man slowly trailed his fingers down toward his lips, rubbing gently at the red chapped skin there. The other hand firmly wrapped around his wrist slowly stroked circles onto the sensitive skin of his inner wrist and Remy shuddered, eyelids fluttering unconsciously.

Then as abrupt as it had started, the man released him. Remy drew back with an almost violent force, hand flying toward his mouth. He was breathing hard and felt a slow anger creep out from deep within him. Without thinking, he rounded the bar and came up in front of the two men. Only after he had approached, did he realize how insignificant he looked in the face of the stranger. He had to be at least seven foot tall, Remy thought as his fist automatically drew back for a punch.

But his fist never reached the man's chest. Instead, he was drawn bodily forward, his entire body pressed tightly against the other man's muscular form. Despite wearing the thick metal gear, he felt strangely warm and smelled a heavy musky scent that reminded Remy strangely of the smell of freshly fallen rain and grassy ponds. The man growled harshly in his ear and before Remy could start to struggle, the man released him almost violently.

He stared in perplexed amazement as the smaller male followed the taller one out of the bar and into the night. It was only after he cleaned up the two untouched drinks that he realized the man's so-called costume had felt warm to the touch.

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So how is it? Good? Bad? Review? I still need more names!


	5. Chapter 5

**AN:Update~ Love you guys and your lovely reviews! UMM, don't like don't read, I'm kind of nervous posting this...are there men reading this? *blush*  
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**Rating: T (slight M/M BE WARNED)**

* * *

**Five**

Remy leaned over the counter and groaned, little spots of good and silver popping behind his closed eyelids. The aftermath of the party was a mass of hungover people in weird outfits lying around cursing the day they were born. Remy's head was pounding in sync with his heart and he was in a nasty mood.

"Someone threw up in one of the armchairs." Olivia sighed as she massaged her temples, the makeup on her face now in blotches and streaks. Remy muttered a curse and flopped sideways. He had mopped up what remained of a jello beanie bag that someone had managed to bite through. The luminescent puddle had been sticky and cold to the touch and Remy's pants were now painted bright pink.

"Your cell phone, Jeremy." Benny called from behind a shelf of liqueur.

Remy dried his hands and caught the ringing mobile in midair as it sailed over the counter. He nodded his thanks and glanced at the caller ID. It was Evelyn.

"Hello?" He answered with a frown. For a moment there was nothing but background noise, a loud wailing siren that sounded grotesquely familiar. Then he heard the first sniff and Evelyn broke into loud wailing sobs over the phone, babbling frantically. Remy heard every warbled word but nothing registered in his brain. The sound of the ambulance echoed loudly in the background and the distant memory of the first time Agnes fainted at home came flooding back in a painful wave of sounds and emotions. His heart clenched and the hangover seemed to leave his body in a tingling wave. He was gone before Benny could ask what was wrong.

* * *

"It's Agnes, she's, oh god, I didn't mean for it to happen..." Eve sobbed into the chest of a tall man in an expensive two piece suit. The man looked a little uncomfortable and patted her shoulders gently from time to time but otherwise stayed silent.

Remy found them like that, standing outside the ER. Frank's face seemed visibly relieved when Evelyn released him and ran to Remy. Remy allowed her to sob into his chest and heard the story of how it had happened from Frank. Agnes had been angry that Remy had agreed to just hand her over to Frank and Evelyn without asking her first. That little disagreement evolved into a full grown argument and in a fit of anger, Agnes had run out of the room, tripped over the rug at the top and tumbled down the stairs.

"Did she hit her head?" Remy tried to remain calm as he asked the question but his hands were clenched into tight fists, barely restraining himself.

Evelyn nodded and started weeping again. Remy held her silently, hands gentle as he patted down her frizzy hair. Fr a moment, it felt like Frank was the outsider again but Remy knew his feelings for his wife were slowly washing away like the color pigments of an old photo that faded with time. He still liked the idea of having a wife but he wasn't sure he still had feelings for her.

Hours passed and when Remy was sure he was going to burst in there himself, the lights went out. The three of them stood up tensely as the doctors came out.

"How is she?" Remy seized one of the men by the sleeve and the startled doctor looked up, glasses slightly askew. He cough as Remy shook him none too gently.

"She's still unconscious, but stable. We don't know how long before she wakes but her conditions are now considerably worse than before. The wounds, both mentally and physically will leave their mark."

Remy felt his heart drop into his stomach in dread and despair. He tightened his fist over the doctor's sleeve and the man frowned in annoyance.

"What...what can we do?" Remy was having a hard time focusing due to the sudden ringing sound in his head.

"I'm sorry but there's nothing we can-" the doctor began and flinched back when Remy slammed his fist against the wall next to his head.

Evelyn came forward and drew him away, prying his fingers off the man's scrubs. Remy collapsed into a plastic waiting chair and buried his face into his hands. Tears came silent and scalding against his roughened palms and he swiped them angrily away from his eyes. The corridor was silent except for the sound of shoes clicking against the marble floor and Remy kept his face hidden behind his hands until he felt a hand against the nape of his neck. He flinched back in surprise and looked up to see a woman with striking wavy auburn hair and grey eyes standing over him.

"Mr. Brooks, we can help your daughter." She said.

He stared up at her stupidly and noticed another older familiar-looking man standing behind her, his face severe and wearing a suit. She reached for one of his hands and pulled him to his feet. Evelyn watched them curiously, her eyes red and puffy behind her glasses. Remy's mind wandered and he remembered she had probably forgotten to put in her contacts before rushing Agnes to the hospital.

"Mr. Brooks, we can help your daughter." The woman squeezed his hand gently and offered a small comforting smile. "If you come with me, we can discuss the situation and you can rest assured that there will be no cost."

Evelyn was glancing between them silently behind the red headed woman's shoulder and Remy stood shakily.

"Wait, you only need my husband? What are you asking in return?" She asked suddenly, her hand reaching out to take Remy's other hand. She rubbed comforting circles into the flesh of his palm and he calmed slightly at her touch, his mind clearing.

The woman let go of his hand and gave them a beautiful stunning smile and pointed to the older man. "We are from a government organization and we have the best scientists and doctors at our command, we can help your daughter if your husband agrees to help us with something. It's top secret, so we have to discuss this elsewhere."

Evelyn frowned and began to object but Frank suddenly reached out and broke her contact with Remy. "It's the best plan."

She didn't look convinced by the sudden appearance of some crackpot government group but didn't object as the woman led Remy away.

They walked silently toward the lobby of the hospital and Remy blinked in surprise when he realized he was standing in front of a huge black limo. The woman opened the door and gestured inside. Remy slid in after the man and shifted uncomfortably when the woman brushed the inside of his thigh when she slid in after them.

"Mr. Brooks, I'm going to get right to the point." The man opened a Manila folder and shook out a few photos. Remy froze as he stared at the creatures on the paper. Metallic, black and sleek with a huge sharp barb filled tail, the creature from that night stood out bold and clear in the colored photo. Remy dropped the picture and stared at the somber-faced man.

"What..." He began but the man shushed him.

"You recognize these creatures I presume. Good. My name is Goodman, you don't need to know my first name, you only need to know that I come from Sector Nine, previously known as Sector Thirteen. You used to serve our country, so you should have heard of the secret Sectors before. We specialize in bio weaponry and this is one of our new discoveries. We hope to use these creatures for the good of mankind but we still haven't gotten a connection between these creatures and our soldiers. However, specimen MR001 was a success and it seems to be responding to you and you only. It has broken loose of its testing environment and has been tailing you over the last week and half. Our exchange for your daughter's health is that you help us with the experiments and tests being performed on MR001."

Remy's mouth had dropped open with a dry click during the whole speech and was gaping at the man in disbelief. If I had heard of the Secret Sectors, then they wouldn't be secret now would they, he thought sardonically. The old man glared back with barely suppressed impatience.

"How do you know it responds to me?" He asked finally.

"It has a special connection with you, that is all I can say right now."

"That thing tried to kill me!" Remy managed to squeeze out of his slack jaws.

"We can assure you that MR001 is not hostile. It will be perfectly safe. We will monitor your progress throughout the entire testing period and we will interfere before harm is done." The woman cut in and placed a hand over Remy's leg. She smiled. "Think about it Mr. Brooks, we can cure your daughter in return for this small favor for your country. What do you say?"

He stared at her sweet smile and looked down at her hand and drew his leg back. The smile never faltered.

He took a deep breath and realized if his daughter really did die, he would have nothing left to live for. There was nothing left to lose.

"Okay, I'll do it."

* * *

"We've planted cameras in every corner of the house in order to monitor your interactions with the creature." The woman, Natasha, explained as they stopped the car. Remy blinked up at his old house through the trees.

"Wait, you never said it had to take place in my house."

"We want a purely natural environment."

"I have a broken window from a previous attack, did I tell you about that?"

"No, but we can replace it for you, Mr. Brooks."

"Call me Remy. I was hoping you'd say that. Agnes would really like the window."

"Glad to hear it."

"Oh, by the way, remove the cams in the bathroom. I can't show my privates to a bunch of nerdy four-eyed scientists."

"...very well."

Remy sighed as he seated himself onto his new couch and looked expectingly up at the woman standing in front of him.

"Well, what now?"

She frowned. "You should start drawing attention to yourself so that MR001 can come to you."

"You guys lost it didn't you? That's why you need me..."

She raised an eyebrow at Remy as he stood up and walked down the steps, ignoring the men wearing white containment suits and holding cameras and various beeping flashing machines. He took a deep breath and hollered toward the trees.

"Come out, you asshole!"

The shout rang loud and clear, reverberating in the hills and Natasha winced visibly. Remy grinned and wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"It's not gonna come, okay?" He said as he turned to face the woman. "You guys are just messing around with-"

Someone gasped and pointed behind Remy. He blinked as more gasped and whispers started between them. Remy sighed.

"It's right behind me, isn't it?"

He turned around hesitantly and drew in a sharp breath. The creature that appeared was a lot bigger than the one he had stabbed in the living room. It stood on its hind legs, tail neatly wrapped underneath its body and it was wearing what looked liked a makeshift red scarf. Remy blinked again and the thing opened its mouth, hissing at the men behind Remy, tail lifting like a cobra about to strike.

Natasha gave a sharp gesture and they all scattered as fast as they could. Remy felt nervousness settle in the pit of his stomach as everyone disappeared, leaving only him and the black creature. The thick silence was broken by a weird soft thrilling purr and Remy took a few steps back, hand going to his belt for the gun he had slipped in when Natasha wasn't watching. She'd only given him an earpiece, assuring him that the creature would not hurt him but Remy really doubted that. They stayed silent and awkwardly still.

The creature cocked its head and for a moment Remy thought it was smelling him. Then the thing moved forward a few paces, careful not to make any sudden movements. Remy's heart thudded in his ribcage and his frantic mind suddenly remembered the lessons he had learned about calming wild animals when he was still in university.

Look them in the eye and show them that you mean no harm.

Remy groaned inwardly and realized that he didn't really know where the creature's eyes were or if it indeed had any eyes.

"Really could use a fire poker right about now..." He muttered under his breath and wiggled about on his toes. There was a burst of static in his ear and he winced in discomfort. The voice spoke and Remy sincerely wished it hadn't.

"Interact with it. It won't harm you. In theory."

"You just can't retract the 'in theory' can you? If I die, out better take care of my family because if you don't, I'm gonna claw my way out of hell and shove Scarfy McRed here up your asses. See if I don't."

He glanced at the thing out of the corner of his eye and realized it had sat back on its haunches and was studying him like a kid looking at a particularly interesting frog he was going to dissect. It's forelegs were tucked neatly under the wonky tatters of the scarf and Remy and it was obviously trying to look harmless. Remy sighed and sent up a quick prayer to the Heavens before slowly taking a step toward the creature. It moved a fraction of an inch forward and Remy froze, hands going to his waist for the weapon. Seemingly disappointed, the creature sat back in its original position and slowly lowered its body, laying its elongated head onto its forelegs like a scolded dog and tucking its tail close for comfort.

It was kind of cute, in a totally weird way.

Remy cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak. "are you going to kill/maim/torture/etc me? Wag your tail to say yes and lift your head for no."

The moment he finished, he felt stupid for even opening his mouth. Of course the thing couldn't understand English. Then it slowly lifted its head and Remy heard the gasps from his earpiece as his mouth dropped open in disbelieve and amazement.

"Holy shit, you're sentient. Okay, umm, do you have a name?"

It waved its tail once in a slow arc and put its head back down. Remy nodded to himself and thought hard.

"You know I've always wanted a dog when I was a kid but I never got the chance, if I had one, I would have named it Clyde. How about Clyde?" He asked hopefully, forgetting for a moment that the thing in front of him was a two hundred pound killing machine.

The thing remained silent for a while and Remy felt nervousness come rushing back as the hairs on the nape of his neck rose. The creature had moved, like oil it glided gracefully close, the tail raised gently behind it and Remy gulped as the sun glinted off its barbed edge. It made no sounds as it approached and circled Remy, moving so close that its muscular sides rubbed against his waist like a huge cat seeking affection from its master.

"If you don't like the name we can...oh..." Remy trailed off weakly as the tail snaked between his legs and pressed casually against his crotch. It rubbed experimentally and Remy's legs gave out underneath him in surprise. He found himself kneeling in the grass and tried to get up when a hard heavy weight crashed down onto his back and with sudden clarity he realized the creature was atop him, pressing him down onto the ground in a show of dominance. Remy gritted his teeth and lashed out with one arm, the other buckled slightly under the heavy load. Something hard poked at his backside and rubbed repeatedly against the seam of his pants as he struggled harder underneath the thing. It puffed out hot rancid air next to his ear and Remy's face slowly went red as the tail moved teasingly between his kneeling thighs. He was not going to react.

"Is this fucking normal?" He panted under his breath. He could hear excited murmurings going on in the earpiece but the exact words escaped him. There was a moment of silence.

"Yes. They greet their kind in this manner." The earpiece finally said.

"Bullshit!" Remy managed through gritted teeth as his arms buckled and he pressed his face against the rough grassy ground, ears now beet red.

The creature was now rubbing at his ass with frantic erratic thrusts, hard enough to make him skid forward a few paces every time and a thought suddenly came to him that his jeans would be ruined after this. Remy wanted to laugh but the boner that was slowly forming between his legs was not funny at all. The adrenaline was to blame, yes that was it. Blame it all on his body's natural reflexes. You rub a guy between the legs and he's bound to get hard, no matter who or what's doing the rubbing.

His breath whooshed out in harsh gasps as the thing increased its speed and Remy groaned a curse when something hot and wet soaked his shirt a few moments after. It smelled musky and heavy with pheromones and Remy wasn't sure he wanted to know where it had come from as he shoved the satisfied thing off him with a grunt.

He yanked the soiled shirt off his back and threw it into the shrubs, glaring warningly at the perverse creature crouching nonchalantly a few feet from him.

"Come any closer and I'll fucking blow your head off." He pulled out the gun from his belt and waved it threateningly, heart still pounding.

"You should cover yourself with something." Natasha's voice came through the earpiece sounding oddly appreciative. Remy looked down and realized with growing horror that he was standing in his backyard half naked, pointing a gun at an alien and supporting a huge boner in his pants.

"Fuck."

* * *

Extra:

Remy: Is this normal? *points at alien enthusiastically humping his leg.*

Natasha: ...

Clyde: *Happily humping said leg*

Natasha: No... But he seems happy.

Remy: How do you know it's a 'he'?

Natasha: *Point*

Remy: OH GOD.

**The reason Clyde did that was because he has to put his scent on Remy. If you recall, last chapter the predator sort of 'hugged' him in the bar so yeah, it left a smell and...**

**REVIEW! XD**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:Long overdue but my computer broke down, guys. So sorry. I feel so sad, all these years of writing and I still don't have a fanart piece...I would really like one. Like for any of my fics...sniffs and goes back to bed. Enjoy~**

**Rating: T**

* * *

**Six**

It really tells you that a man's life has gone down the drain when the bathroom becomes his only sanctuary in the house, Remy thought gloomily as he buried his face in his hands and slumped down against the toilet lid he was seated on. He didn't want to go out and confront the creature from the Black Lagoon. He didn't even want to think about the thing prowling around his bedroom.

Three days had passed and he hadn't slept a wink. Remy had locked himself into the bathroom as soon as the scientists left with the redhead and proceeded to scrub his skin off in the shower. Then he had camped out there without eating until he was on the edge of fainting and the phone ringing downstairs became unbearable. Then he proceeded to charge downstairs, stuff his face and grab the phone before charging up the stairs and diving into the bathroom again. Thankfully it was the holiday seasons and he didn't have to go back to work until the twenty-ninth.

There was a sudden rattle from the door and Remy resisted the strong urge to scream like a little girl as a shadow passed, obscuring the light from the bedroom. His heart jumped around erratically in his ribcage and Remy braced himself for the inevitable crash of the door breaking but nothing happened. The seconds ticked by and the creepy mouth-breather at the door emitted a disappointed hiss and retreated. He slumped back down on to the toilet seat and sighed in relief.

Remy looked around the master bathroom and mentally calculated the possible weapons he could make out of two rolls of extra soft toilet paper, an electronic razor and baby blue SpongeBob shower curtains. Oh wait, there was a pink bath scrub and two bottles of shampoo. They teach you in the academy how to kill a man thirty-seven ways with a ball point pen but not how to strangle a possible alien from outer space with toilet paper. Damn, extra soft and jasmine-scented too.

"God help me." Remy stared up at the ceiling and sent a rare prayer to the big guy upstairs. Normally he wouldn't have bothered as the things he had gone through in life sort of squeezed the religious guy out of his system. Remy didn't believe in God or Fate, he believed in his own two hands. But the situation wasn't normal and he needed all the mental strength he could get.

He reasoned that some time tonight he would have to go downstairs for another food run and eventually he would have to go to the supermarket to restock his rapidly diminishing supplies. It would be better sooner than later, right? Remy grabbed the long-necked shampoo bottle and took a deep breath as he inched toward the door. A lot of good a bottle of shampoo would do against the monster, Remy thought grimly. At least he could offer to wash its hair, not that it had any to begin with. His brain chattered cheekily in the background as he turned the knob.

The door clicked open with a soft sound and Remy braced himself as he stepped out into the bedroom, feeling incredibly vulnerable with only the blinking red lights in the darkened corners of the room. He never liked surveillance cameras. The second floor seemed empty and Remy cautiously slipped down the stairs toward the kitchen.

He jumped when something thumped in the darkness and Remy snapped the light on. There was a struggling deer on the floor of the kitchen, its neck oozing dark red blood all over the floor. He dropped the shampoo bottle with a loud clack and watched transfixed as it rolled leisurely into a darkened corner. A second later the bottle rolled back into the light and the shadows moved as the creature detached itself from its hiding place.

The deer was making low gurgling noises in the back of its throat, smearing more blood over the beige floorboards as it struggled to breath past the slash in its neck. Remy took a step backwards, eyes flickering between the thing and its prey. He held his hands up slowly, palms toward the creature.

"Okay, I'm not gonna disturb your meal, just..." He trailed off as it moved forward, slithering over the dying animal like a deadly snake. "Oh, god."

It stopped in front of him and lowered its head and Remy snatched his hand back only to receive an angry hiss. He put his hands up hurriedly, heart hammering in his chest. Remy's breath caught in his throat as the creature pressed its muzzle against his open palm. It was hard and smoothly cool to the touch, like the surface of polished marble. Something glistened wetly at the tip and he realized a tad bit too late that it was blood. The crimson smeared into the skin of his palm and Remy felt himself sway on the spot. The thing was watching him now, slick and deadly still. Remy honestly didn't know what to say and let his lips twitch upward in a dry little smile.

"Good job?" He ventured, breaking the silence. It seemed to preen with satisfaction as it nosed against his sides and rubbed like an over grown cat. Remy totally didn't piss himself and personally, he considered that a job well done.

They stood awkwardly in the hallway, Remy's heart about to jump through his mouth when something moved outside the window. Remy leapt back when the deadly tail suddenly rose and the creature in front of him gave a earsplitting screech and made to break the newly resurrected window.

"Hey hey hey! Over here, there is a thing called the front door!" Remy snapped his fingers in front of its face like it was a particularly bothersome pup and ran to the front door. He unlocked it just in time to feel something breeze past his face. Snow swirled in the darkness and Remy fought off a shiver as he heard the inhuman cry again. His hand was still wet with blood from the deer and there was a generous amount smeared on the doorknob and he growled in frustration, throwing up his hands and slamming the door. Remy stomped to the phone, wiping his wet hands with a tissue. It didn't help much to clean up the blood but at least it wouldn't smear on his phone.

"Hello, Natasha there? Who the hell is this? Well if you know what I'm talking about, your pet science project has just left the house. No I have no fucking idea where it went." He dialed the number that hot redhead had slipped him the afternoon everything spiraled out of control. The man on the other side had a ridiculously cheerful Indian accent and was telling him to wait. Remy cursed under his breath and balled up the bloody tissue.

Cradling the phone between the crook of his neck and shoulder, he wandered back into the kitchen to wash his hands. The animal on the floor was thoroughly dead and Remy skirted around gingerly to the sink. The man on the other side of the line was silent for too long and Remy hung up impatiently, muttering under his breath about crappy secret agency hotline services. The water was ice cold and he shivered as gooseflesh rippled up his arms. Remy dried his hands and glanced out the foggy window. He couldn't see anything clearly, just vague shapes slashing through the swirling snow. An idea raced through his mind and Remy nearly toppled over the dead carcass in his haste to get to the front door.

The porch lights. If he cold open them, he would see what was going on. The sound of shrieks and cries filled the air as he flung open the door. A blast of cold air hit him and he realized that he was still in his boxers and an old Red Sox t-shirt. The lights flickered for the longest moment as he waited tensely for the scene to unfold. The bulbs hummed in the cold and stayed on as one last flicker shuddered though its circuits. Remy's mouth dropped open.

There were half a dozen black shapes silhouetted in the snow, their shadows stretching into strange and terrifying shapes on the ground beneath them. Only one stood facing away from the house, head raised high and tail poised to strike. For a moment, Remy's brain refused to connect the dots. There was no way in hell that the thing in his house would go into the trouble of protecting his human ass against whatever it was that hid in the woods behind the house. There was no way.

But there it was, unfolding right in front of his eyes. Remy watched as one of the creatures leapt toward his own and watched in fascination as the slightly bigger creature smoothly dodged out of the way, tail piercing the smaller creature cleanly through the skull. It roared and slowly raised its struggling captive before flinging it off to the side. Remy felt his gut lurch. It was purely a show of male dominance and who was the bigger and badder monster here.

The rest seemed to hesitate before moving all at once. Four tackled Remy's monster pet (wait,since when had it become 'his'?) and the last one made a mad dash for Remy, which all in all was a shitty choice for him. Remy flailed as he made a mad dash for the front door, managing not to slip on the frozen slush on his porch and crack his skull on the railing. It slammed shut with a loud bang just as the creature collided with the firm wood. He hurtled backwards, knocking into a table, and pain exploded in his hip as he went down. The door shook violently and Remy gritted his teeth against the throbbing pain in his leg as he shuffled quickly toward the cabinet in the hall.

"Help! Somebody help me! Goddammit, who the hell is watching these cameras?!" He screamed randomly and made a mad dash for the guns and various knives that he had conveniently placed all over the house. There was a small 9mm under a stack of newspapers in the cabinet and Remy made a wild grab for it. He braced himself and turned toward the door. It was strangely silent outside and he felt himself calm as the old military training kicked back in. He had always been the kind of guy who was able to focus better with adrenaline coursing though his body and a dangerous situation bearing down upon his head. It made him feel so fucking alive.

The door creaked again and Remy kept his finger on the trigger as he slid closer and unlatched the door. There was a slow groan from rusty hinges and something toppled heavily into the house. The top half of its grotesquely elongated head was missing, showing a mass of slimy grey brain matter. It bled a dull grayish green onto the carpet and Remy stared. For one tiny second, his mind had been convinced it was Clyde and his stomach clenched in disappointment. Snow swirled past and melted at his bare feet, the cameras in every corner blinked serenely at him and something slid out of the shadows and was limping back toward him.

He raised the gun without thought and the creature slowed. He caught sight of the faded red tatters of the flannel shirt around its neck, the half-melted snow on its body and the long gash oozing green stuff onto his sizzling 'WELCOME' mat. Something made him release the gun. He took a few uncertain steps toward it and saw that there were more gashes in its side and it was bleeding the same dull emerald-colored stuff that was eating up his welcome mat faster that Benny could inhale pizza. Remy swallowed past the knot in his throat and twitched his arms in a jerky 'come in' motion. The thing raised its head slowly and slid inside the house, where it sat down and remained uncharacteristically silent.

Ok, so now there were two dead carcasses in his house. And this one was blocking him from closing the front door and letting all the nice warm air out. Fuckity fuck fuck. He cursed under his breath and turned toward the other live monster currently occupying the room.

"It's dead right?" He asked gruffly. The thing didn't even bat an eye at him, not that Remy knew where its eyes were. So he took that as a yes.

Taking a deep breath and grabbing the gun again, he slipped on a pair of old combat boots and proceeded to manually maneuver the carcass out of his doorway with his foot. That took a long time. And by the time it had rolled to a stop at the foot of his porch, Remy was sure one of his balls had fallen off from frostbite and overexposure. He turned to go when something silver caught his eye. There was a small silver loop pierced into the base of the creature's tail. He squinted at the thing and saw a neat microscopic serial number carved perfectly on its surface. There was no way something like that was natural, so the only other explanation was that it came from somewhere else, a lab maybe.

The realization hit him like a punch to the gut. MR001 wasn't the only experiment they were doing, he was part of the goddamn experiment as well. That seemed to explain the absence of a rescue team when his house just so happened to be attacked by half a dozen of those tagged monster. So they sent them, but for what reasons?

There is a connection between you and the creature. We want a natural testing environment. He won't hurt you.

So the true monster wasn't the thing in his house but those scientists. How fucking poetic was that?

Remy sneezed and his laments came to a screeching halt. Ok, he had a wounded pet monster to tend to. It was no use wasting his time thinking about things he couldn't intervene. He jogged back to the house, feeling considerably safer than before. That was odd.

* * *

It took him the whole night to clean up and to reenforced the idea to Clyde that he did not like the thing to eat raw animals that bled everywhere. And yes, Remy had started calling it by 'Clyde' rather than 'it', he figured it was a good way to start mending the relationship between him and the thing.

"A little help here, ya lazy brute." He was wheezing pathetically by the time he dragged the deer out by its back legs, leaving a wide streak of blood behind him and the creature was just lying there, bleeding onto the marbles. Remy was suddenly glad he had gotten marble for the hallways after he realized Clyde's blood would probably burn a hole into wood or carpet. The front door was slightly ruined but usable so there was no harm done. The welcome mat now read 'WE ME', with the middle three letters burnt out. He hurled the deer carcass off the steps and wiped his forehead with a grimace. Remy put his hands on his knees and doubled over, panting for breath.

Something caught his eye, or the lack of something. The five bodies lying in the snow were gone, only the one at the bottom of the porch remained. Remy frowned, suddenly feeling the hairs at the base of his neck rise. The wind howled and whipped snow into his face but underneath it all he thought he could hear a soft oddly familiar trilling purr somewhere close. Suddenly extremely nervous, Remy jumped up the stairs and locked the door behind him.

The creature in the hall raised its head and Remy put a finger to his lips. He then proceeded to lock all the windows and doors. It was probably nothing and he was probably still paranoid over the second attack but he still stuffed the gun into the pair of jeans he slipped on.

Clyde refused medical assistance with an annoyed hiss and a threatening wave to the tail and Remy wasn't really keen to play doctor anyway so he gave the thing a wide berth. Now, he realized, it was no longer bleeding. The wound had sluggishly congealed and he was moving with more confidence, even trying to follow Remy into the kitchen again. Remy shooed it out and proceeded to clean the tiles and scrub away the remnants of blood with a bucket of dishwashing fluid, carpet cleaners and bleach. The stuff was probably going to make the skin of his palms peel off. He sighed and stared scrubbing.

* * *

"Hey ,kid." Benny gestured at him to come over with a bright green oven mitt. Remy sighed and shuffled unenthusiastically over to his side and stared blandly at his tiny man of a boss. Benny scowled and shoved him into a chair.

"Listen, Olivia and I, we heard about your daughter. If you want to take a few days off to take care of her, it's fine. All you have to do is ask, alright?"

Remy blinked up at him in surprise and realized he was kind of just floating around the bar oozing a haze of unhappiness out of every pore like a depressed sponge and not really helping out at all. And he was wearing the largest purple bags under his eyes known to man. The second feature mainly resulted from not being able to fall asleep for more than two hours at a time.

"Sweetie, if you're having trouble, maybe you should find someone-" Olivia started. Benny rolled his eyes and dropped into the stool next to him.

"Stop trying to set him up with your random friends, Ollie." Benny said with annoyance. "Not every problem gets solved if you hook up with a woman."

Olivia scowled and walked over to peer closer at Remy's tired face. He had about three days of stubble on his face and the recently acquired scar on his left cheek didn't exactly help.

"Are you taking drugs? Self inflicting harm onto your pretty face? Or are you trying to regrow America so Lewis and Clark can discover it again?" She gestured to the dangerously lush shrubbery that had sprung onto the lower half of his face. Remy snorted and let her fret over him like a mother hen.

"All I'm saying is that one of my good friends is coming over for the New Years party in two days and she's single, you are single, so why not?" Olivia shrugged and pulled out a tray of chocolate chip cookies. The bar was nearly empty and they had a moment of free time to relax and talk. Remy chose a particularly large cookie and shoved the hot sweet treat into his mouth without hesitation- and proceeded to burn his tongue.

"Whaaas 'er -hhhot hot hot, name?" He fanned his open mouth with enthusiasm and winced at the pain. Olivia rolled her eyes fondly.

"Lex Woods." She said.

"Ohhh, that Miss Woods..." Benny smirked and batted his lashes at Remy with a sly look. "She's a real looker, fierce and dangerous too. She's a specialist or something, a guide if memory serves accurate. You'll like her, pumpkin."

Remy nodded absently and stashed that particular piece of information to the corners of his mind. It wasn't like he had time or energy to start dating again, with all the shit going on in his life. Besides, he only needed his daughter anyway. Speaking of which, he hadn't checked on her for almost three days. Remy made a mental note to drive by and check on his girl's status, feeling an overwhelming wave of guilt for letting it slip his mind. Goodman had assured him she would be in good hands but he still felt worried. Yes, that was it. He would check on her as soon a possible. Everything else could wait.

* * *

**AN: I absolutely loved every one of my reviews and I have read them over and over again to motivate me to write despite my busy schedule as a student in a country where tests are taken almost every week and the has shortest summers between school days. Special thanks to Rendianami for the lovely LONG review! I loved it!**

**PS: Lex from the movie AVP makes an appearance in the next chapter. Reviews will help speed me along. Love you guys!**


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